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News from Tokyo



Pro-democracy Activists Inform Guests, Irritate Organizers at Myanmar
Investment Promotion Symposium in Tokyo

	A small but enthusiastic group of pro-democracy activists scored a victory
for free speech against fierce opposition when they leafletted an investment
promotion symposium organized by the Burmese Embassy on February 24 in Tokyo.
	Six activists from Burma, Japan and the United States handed leaflets to
participants bound for the "Symposium on Industrial Development and Reforms
in Myanmar" as they entered the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry
building in Hibiya (see program below).  The handouts, written into
Japanese, expressed opposition to investment with the military regime and
support for selective purchasing legislation and consumer boycotts against
companies engaged in such investment.  (English version of text follows this
article.)
	Most of the approximately 100 symposium participants cheerfully accepted
the leaflets (it's their money at risk, after all), but its organizers were
less enthusiastic.  U Soe Win, the Burmese ambassador to Japan and one of
the symposium's speakers, raised his hands in the air and refused to take a
handout from the activists as he fled into the building, betraying either
the military regime's fear of truth or its low level of literacy.
	At the request of the Burmese Embassy, organizers barred the Burmese
correspondent for Radio Free Asia's Tokyo bureau from entering the
symposium, raising questions about the state of press freedom in Japan as
well as in Burma.  The organizers also physically restrained an activist who
tried to pass leaflets directly outside the symposium reception area inside
the building.  When she refused to go quietly, the organizers called half a
dozen security guards to escort her outside the building.
	Despite the obstructions, the activists were encouraged to learn from a
source inside the symposium that organizers began the meeting with an
announcement denying responsibility for the rogue handouts and disclaiming
any association with Burma Youth Volunteer Association and People's Forum on
Burma.
	The symposium, sponsored by the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the
Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Sasakawa Peace Foundation,
was the second of its kind.  The first was held in Rangoon in November 1997.
The organizers plan to launch the "Japan-Myanmar CCI Business Cooperation
Committee" in Tokyo in March.

* * *
[English text of handout]

February 24, 1998

To Guests of the Joint Symposium on Industrial Reforms and Development in
Myanmar:

We respectfully remind you of the following:

* We support the government the Burmese people elected in 1990, led by Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy.

* We oppose the Burmese military junta and deplore your embrace of it.

* We support international sanctions against the military junta, including
selective purchasing legislation passed by the State of Massachusetts and
other U.S. localities, as well as consumer boycotts against companies doing
business with the military junta, as a means of pressuring the military
junta to engage in dialogue with Daw Suu and the NLD.

* We oppose efforts by Japanese companies to defy the will of American
voters by pressuring the World Trade Organization to rule against the
Massachusetts and similar legislation.

* We oppose efforts by Japanese companies to denigrate Daw Suu and the NLD
and to prop up the military junta for the purpose of exploiting Burma's
people and resources.

We vow to continue exercising our rights as citizens and consumers in
support of Daw Suu, the NLD and the Burmese people, and we will not rest
until democracy and human rights are restored to Burma.

Burma Youth Volunteer Association
People's Forum on Burma

* * *

Symposium on Industrial Development and Reforms in Myanmar
Program

1.	Opening Remarks
Mr. Tomoo Takahara
Chairman, Preparation Committee for the Establishment of the Japan-Myanmar
CCI Business Cooperation Committee, Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry

2.	Special Address
H.E. U Soe Win, Ambassador of Myanmar to Japan

3.	Briefing on the Japan-Myanmar CCI Business Cooperation Committee
Secretariat of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry

4.	"Status of Industries in Contemporary Myanmar"
Dr. Tun Shin, Deputy Director General
Directorate of Investment and Company Administration
Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development

5.	"Industries in Yangon"
U Tun Aye, Proprietor, Yadana Rice Milling Industries, Yangon

"Industrial Development and Reforms in Myanmar"
Dr. Chit So, Project Coordinator, Asia & Oceania Department
Overseas Planning & Development Division, ITOCHU Corporation

"A Survey on Selected Firms in Myanmar"
Dr. Nu Nu Yin, Associate Professor, Department of Management Studies,
Institute of Economics

6.	Questions and Answers

7.	Closing Remarks
Dr. Kitti Limskul, Associate Professor, Faculty of Economics, Chulalongkorn
University